


Spring, 1985

by ooglywoogly



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Frottage, M/M, Underage Drinking, the john hughes au no one asked for, this whole thing is cliche and cheesy but if thats what you like then this will be a Treat for you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-14 17:54:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8023459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ooglywoogly/pseuds/ooglywoogly
Summary: Chanyeol is a jock, Kyungsoo is a nerd. They've never spoken, but now they have to do a school project together.





	Spring, 1985

~~~

 

Chanyeol’s eyes can’t leave the clock. The big hand is almost at 12, the little hand not far behind. The second hand ticks at what seems like half speed. His history teacher’s voice became white noise about ten minutes ago. It’s nearing the end of the year, and Chanyeol honestly doesn’t give a shit anymore. Especially not on a Friday. He twirls his pencil around in his fingers. He stares, unblinking, at the second hand. Finally, the familiar  _ brrrrring _ fills the halls. He shoves his stuff into his backpack and bolts out the door.

 

After cutting through the halls, Chanyeol swings open the metal doors of the cafeteria and makes a beeline for his regular spot. You could, I guess, call Chanyeol and his lunch table what some people consider to be “jocks”. Seniors, football players, mostly large in stature, don’t usually get good grades. Most of the long table is comprised of teammates that Chanyeol isn’t that close with: Tony Holmes, Marcus Judd, Warren Cann, Jarett Dyer, that whole crew. But at the very end of the table sits Chanyeol, next to his best friends: Yixing Zhang, Minseok Kim, and Baekhyun Byun. 

 

Yixing is the Quarterback, and a fantastic one at that. He works out and practices all the time, longer and more than anyone else on the team. He also makes pretty good grades because he puts in the effort to study. He has trouble balancing all the work he does, though, and has basically no social life. Chanyeol, Minseok, and Baekhyun are his only friends, but he’s really only close to Baekhyun for some reason, probably because everyone is close to Baekhyun. Yixing’s good looks and his gentle, polite demeanor result in him being loved by a large percentage of the school’s female population, but he says he’s too busy to keep up with a girlfriend properly.

 

Minseok makes a great Wide Receiver despite his size and feminine baby face. He’s fast, and is surprisingly ripped. The team nicknamed him “the secret weapon”. Minseok also plays soccer, and is quite good at it. He’s a very neat and clean guy, and makes pretty good grades too, but he never studies. He’s just naturally smart. Or, naturally lucky. Either way, it kind of pisses everyone off. No one ever says it to his face, but everyone thinks he’s kind of cute. Not in a gay way, obviously, just, y’know.

 

Baekhyun is the only one sitting at the table that isn’t on the football team. He’s loud and kind of annoying, a typical theatre kid, but he’s also pretty funny. He sits at their table because, in his words, “asian kids stick together”. Baekhyun is really popular and knows almost everyone in school; or at least, everyone at school knows Baekhyun. This automatically makes him cool. He used to date a new girl every few weeks, but recently he stopped dating altogether. Chanyeol has asked him about it, but Baekhyun always deflects with a joke. It’s probably not his business anyway. Chanyeol has dated a few girls himself, but never gotten very “far” with them. It’s not really his deal.

 

Which brings us to Chanyeol. Kicker, number 61. Makes… acceptable grades. Doesn’t care nearly as much about school as he does about his friends and football. And also music. He cares a lot about music, actually. He plays drums, guitar, and some piano. He wishes he dedicated as much time to music as he did his friends and football, but he can only handle so much on his plate, and he doesn’t want to let either his friends or his team down. He understands why Yixing never does anything. To Chanyeol, high school is like only picking two things you can put effort into. 

 

Lunch goes by too fast, as usual. Baekhyun and Chanyeol bicker about if Foreigner is a good band or not, which somehow eventually leads to an argument about if the story of Weird Science was based on a true story or not. Minseok chirps in every once in awhile about how stupid Chanyeol and Baekhyun are but is mostly preoccupied eating tons of bread, which Baekhyun occasionally steals bits of. Yixing doesn’t say anything today because he’s too busy reading the biology textbook in his lap. Judging by how glazed over his eyes look and how often he yawns, he stayed up way too late last night studying for the test he has next period.

 

Chanyeol’s next period is home ec. He’s really glad none of his teammates are in this class, because they’d probably make fun of him for how seriously he takes it. In most of his classes, Chanyeol is confident he’ll never use anything he’s being taught in real life, but he sees home ec as practical. The sewing and cleaning were boring at first, but Chanyeol found he really enjoyed cooking. It was a fun class, even though Chanyeol didn’t really know any of the other kids in it. Except Kyungsoo Do.

 

Part of Chanyeol hates Kyungsoo. He sits in the front of every class (Chanyeol prefers the back, always), and never talks. Everyone is pretty sure he’s the Valedictorian. All the teachers love him. He has bad acne, and wears glasses, and tucks his button-down shirts in, and cuffs his khakis, and has a pocket protector. He’s always reading. He hangs around with other nerds, people Chanyeol doesn’t know the name of-- Except Junmyeon Kim, the student council VP and chess club president. Kyungsoo was little, and awkward, and kinda weird, and seemingly did nothing but study.

 

But part of Chanyeol likes Kyungsoo. He didn’t talk to anyone, but he seemed nice. He has big round eyes and thick eyebrows and nice lips. He rarely smiles, but when he does, it’s cute. He’s extremely humble, which Chanyeol finds admirable when he isn’t busy finding it aggravating. He’s kind of serious, but he’s a good kid.

 

Chanyeol does this often: flipping between loving and hating Kyungsoo. Well, love is a strong word-- liking and hating Kyungsoo. He doesn’t know how to handle it. He mostly just doesn’t talk to him.

 

Except today. Because he has to. Because the home ec teacher has assigned a project. A group project. Specifically, a paired project.

 

The class was opened with said horrible news by the feeble old woman of a home ec teacher: 

“As you all know, we’ve been finishing up the section on caring for children, which means it’s time for the dreaded ‘baby’ project I’m sure you all have heard about from previous classes. This project counts as the final for this class, so don’t just slack on it because it seems easy. It’s due next thursday. I’ve passed out a printed guide that I’ll go over once I’ve assigned partners.”

 

She then cleared her throat at the front of the class and started reading pairs of names off a clipboard. Chanyeol scanned the room. The girls in this class weren’t particularly good looking, but he didn’t want to be shallow. Maybe he’d get to know his partner and they’d have a lot in common. He waited until almost the very end to hear his name get called, where his romantic dreams were then crushed.

 

“We have an extra two boys left, and it would be unfair to let two people work on their own, so, Chanyeol Park and Kyungsoo Do, you’ll be partners for this project.”

 

Everyone in the classroom turned around to look at Chanyeol. Some of them laughed out loud. 

 

“Now, Chanyeol, don’t just slack on this project because Kyungsoo is your partner. You’ll both need to do 50% of the work.”

 

Chanyeol’s face immediately turned red. This was humiliating. The teacher spent the rest of the class going over the project, and Chanyeol was distracted by thinking about how much he was going to hate every part of it. Kyungsoo hadn’t even turned around. Does he even care? Probably not. How could this teacher not know how embarrassing this was? Chanyeol wasn’t angry, he wasn’t an angry person. He usually just laughs it off when this stuff happens. But for some reason, this, this bothered him. It was the other kids in class snickering at him. It was the guy in front of him whispering “Is that even legal?” to his buddy. The teacher passed out the somewhat unsettling fake babies, Kyungsoo being given thiers. As soon as class let out, Chanyeol dashed, passing by Kyungsoo without even looking at him.

 

The rest of the day moves slow. After school, Chanyeol drives himself home.

 

Chanyeol paces around his band-poster-covered room, the cord on his phone tethering him in proximity to the phone on his dresser like a dog on a chain. He was babbling to Baekhyun on the other end. 

“So now I have to do this stupid baby project with Kyungsoo. And I’m pretty sure the teacher only chose us to be partners because she knows I have bad grades and Kyungsoo’s the Valedictorian. But it’s not like I get bad grades in that class. Like, I know I’ve never told you guys, but I’m actually, like, pretty good at home ec. Don’t tell anyone else on the team or you know they’ll make fun of me.”

“My lips are sealed, dude.”

“But like, that’s unfair, right?”

“I mean, is it really that bad?”

“Baekhyun, listen to yourself.”

“Okay, it kinda sucks. But I know Kyungsoo. He’s not that bad.”

“It’s… the principle of the thing.”

“Honestly, just suck it up and do the project. It’s your final, and it’s less than a week.”

“I guess.”

“God- ILCHO, EOMMA,” Baekhyun shouts into the phone. “Shit, I gotta go, my mom’s yelling at me. See ya later, Yeollie~”

“Don’t call me that,” Chanyeol tries to say, but Baekhyun’s already hung up.

  
  
  


~~~

  
  
  


As soon as Kyungsoo gets home, he puts the fake baby on his bed, and pulls out the stapled bunch of papers with the baby assignment outlines on it. It’s really not that difficult of a project: both partners must visit a hospital and a few stores to gather research about the costs of delivering and caring for a baby, they have to answer a dozen or so questions about infant health and safety, and worst of all, they have to carry around a fake baby that cries and shits every so often. The baby must spend equal time with each “parent”. Kyungsoo would have breezed through this project with ease if not for the fact that the baby’s other parent was Chanyeol Park.

 

To cut right to the chase, Kyungsoo had a crush on Chanyeol. It definitely wasn’t obvious, but Kyungsoo was sure of it. It was really impossible not to. Chanyeol was one of the cool kids, who played football really well, and was tall and good-looking. He had a charming smile and a happy demeanor. He was a little loud for Kyungsoo’s tastes, but nobody’s perfect.

 

Kyungsoo’s fingers tighten, slightly crumpling the sides of the papers. He’s already sweating thinking about how embarrassed he’ll presumably make himself throughout this project. His heart stopped in its tracks the second he heard his name get called out loud along with Chanyeol’s, and the immediate flicker of happiness was followed by a wave of nerves and fear that shut down any excitement he would have had being paired with Chanyeol.

 

Chanyeol was a jock, a cool kid, and more importantly, straight. In what world would Kyungsoo ever have a chance? This whole project was just rubbing salt in his wounds.

 

He considered his options, and decided to call Chanyeol. It’ll be easy, he’ll just call and say that Kyungsoo can do the whole project by himself. I’d be easier that way. Chanyeol would probably be fine with it. Maybe he’d even be grateful. Kyungsoo finds Chanyeol’s number in the phone book and grabs the phone.

 

...And then sits there. His brain is telling him to punch the numbers in, but his hand isn’t moving. He swallows dryly. God, was his house always this hot? He pushes up his glasses and finally jerks his hand towards the number pad. He pushes in the numbers and hears the ring. He can do this.

 

“Hey, this is Chanyeol.”

Kyungsoo hangs up.

 

As soon as he realizes he’s slammed the phone back on the receiver, he puts his face in his hands. God, he’s so stupid. Does he just call again? What does he say? He can’t not call, he has to discuss the project. As he’s staring at the phone, it rings. He hesitates, but picks it up.

 

Chanyeol speaks first. “Hey, was this the wrong number? Who is this?”   
“Oh, uh, this is Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo Do. I was calling about the baby project. But I have… my house has a bad connection.”

“Ah, okay. What’s up?”

Kyungsoo fidgets his fingers around the cord of the phone. “Well, basically, I think that I should just do the whole thing by myself.”

“That’s not fair. Just let us each do half, like we’re supposed to.”

Well, shit. Kyungsoo wasn’t expecting noncompliance. “It’d… be easier for both of us.”

Chanyeol scoffs on the other end. “What’s that supposed to mean? Shit, Kyungsoo, I get it, okay? I know you think I’m just some dumb jock who’ll bring you down.”

“No, it’s, it’s not like that-”

“But I need to take responsibility for this project. I don’t want you to work harder than you should just because you think I’ll do a shitty job.”

God, Kyungsoo fucked up. Already.  _ Stupid, stupid, stupid _ . “Then we can do it together. No problem.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, definitely. I promise.”

“Okay. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 1 so we can go to Walmart and the hospital to get the prices and shit we need. What’s your address?”   
“138 East W-”

“Wait, lemme get a pen. Okay, 138?”

“138 East Woods.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Bye,” Kyungsoo says, and then hangs up.

 

He lets out a huge sigh and flops down onto his bed, but accidentally lands on the fake baby, which causes it to cry a horrible distorted cry. Kyungsoo groans, picks it up, and sets it upright, resisting the urge to chuck it across the room.

  
  
  


The next day, at 1:18, Chanyeol arrives in Kyungsoo’s driveway in a beat up old white pickup truck. Kyungsoo, both because of the baby in his arms and his height, struggles a little getting into it. Once inside, Chanyeol apologizes for being late, and then peels out of the driveway with a screech. Without taking his eyes off the road, he passes Kyungsoo a little box full of cassettes.

 

“Pick whatever you want. This car can’t play CD’s. This isn’t everything I have, but it’s a pretty good selection. I don’t really know what kind of music you like, but, I got the Rolling Stones, Queen, Rush, The Smiths, Talking Heads, you could probably find something.”

 

Kyungsoo rummages through the box. “I know most of these. Although I don’t usually like the harder rock stuff as much as the ballads.”

“Figures.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Chanyeol shrugs. “I just mean, you don’t seem like the kind of person who listens to hard rock. Or weird music in general.”

“I listen to a lot of music.”

“Really now?”

Just then, a cassette catches Kyungsoo’s eye. “Oh, Ultravox. I used to love them.”   
“Ultravox?  _ You _ like Ultravox? Or are you just pretending to seem cool?”

Kyungsoo doesn’t take offense to this comment, just because of how Chanyeol is smiling. He pops in the cassette. “I know all the words to Vienna.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it.”

The song has already started, and Kyungsoo tightens his arms around the fake baby in his lap. He shouldn’t embarrass himself. But when the words start, so does he.

 

After the song ends, Chanyeol says “You’re pretty good.”

Kyungsoo’s face flushes red and he mutters out “Thanks.”

They don’t talk to each other the rest of the ride, but the mood is pleasant.

  
  


The trip to Walmart goes smoothly. It’s tedious and boring, just running around and filling numbers into blanks on a chart, but Chanyeol manages to make a goofy joke every now and then that makes Kyungsoo smile.

 

When they make it to the baby apparel isle, Chanyeol asks, “Is this baby a boy or a girl?”

“It doesn’t have genitalia,” Kyungsoo says, “so I don’t know.”

“Just say it’s a girl then. What’s her name?”

“Uh… I dunno.”

“I’m not ready to be a dad, Kyungsoo, I can’t even think of a name.”

Kyungsoo chuckles. “How about Vienna?”

Chanyeol’s eyes light up. “That’s good! Vienna!”

Kyungsoo grabs a generic pink patterned onesie off the shelf. “This okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

 

As they’re checking out the onesie and a pack of diapers, the cashier keeps making glances between the fake baby and the two of them.

“It’s a school project,” both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo explain at the same time.

The cashier just passes back the change and put the item in a bag without saying anything else.

  
  


The hospital is even more boring. After fumbling around the main area trying to figure out how to speak to a birthing nurse, they finally find one, and spend the next twenty minutes listening to a lecture about the dangers of teenage pregnancy. But they get the numbers they need for the chart, and with that, the project is about 1/4th done.

 

On the ride home, they talk more about music. Who they like, what genres they wish they heard more of, how good a vinyl sounds. Chanyeol talks about the instruments he plays, and Kyungsoo offhandedly says that he’d love to hear him play sometime. He means it genuinely, of course, but Chanyeol just laughs and says “Sure.”

 

Once the duo- or, trio- is back at Kyungsoo’s house, they finish planning out the rest of the project: they’ll meet after school at the library on Tuesday to finish the “health and safety questions” part of the assignment. Kyungsoo leaves the baby with Chanyeol, and they wave quick goodbyes to each other. Chanyeol grabs the hand of the fake baby and waves it at Kyungsoo, and it immediately starts crying.

 

Kyungsoo sighs in relief as soon as the front door shuts behind him. Maybe he didn’t fuck this up as bad as he thought.

  
  


~~~

  
  


Chanyeol is somewhat surprised at just how much he likes Kyungsoo. There’s just something about him he finds so charming. It really started after hearing him sing in the car-- God, he’s got the voice of an angel. And he’s got a weird little sense of humor, hiding beneath the mask of stoicism, that Chanyeol can coax out.

 

Later that night, Chanyeol calls Baekhyun to tell him the good news.

“He’s really not that bad. I kinda like him, actually. He’s still weird, but, it’s not necessarily in a bad way. It’s like, he’s a nerd, but it’s like, kinda cute, y’know? And, oh yeah, he likes Ultravox. He sang all of Vienna. His voice is so beautiful, it’s like, crazy.”

“Jeez Chanyeol, maybe you two should get married for real. Make a real baby.”

This turns Chanyeol’s cheeks red for some reason. “Shut the fuck up. I’m not gay, it’s just like, a friend thing. You’re the gay one, don’t you have theatre to practice for?”

He expects Baekhyun to laugh at his joke, but he doesn’t.

“Sorry, guess that crossed a line,” Chanyeol backpedals, “I was just joking.”

“Whatever. So how’s the actual project going?”

“Pretty good, we’re done with most of the hard parts. I got this baby now though. It doesn’t really do anything. I just gotta change its diapers and stuff. I forget about it most of the time, to be honest. I like her, though.”

“Oh, it’s a her?”

“Yeah. Her name’s Vienna.”   
“Vienna? After the song Kyungsoo sang?”

Chanyeol lets out a short laugh. “Yeah.”

“You’re so lucky I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone else about this. It’s reeeally hard not to make fun of you right now.”

“Shut up, Baekhyun.”

“I love you too~ I gotta finish this calc homework, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Later dude.”

After he hangs up, Chanyeol shuffles into his pajamas, humming Vienna the whole time.

  
  
  


When Monday rolls around, Chanyeol passes Vienna back to Kyungsoo in the morning. He’s grown surprisingly attached to her, he even talks to her sometimes. But he wouldn’t be caught dead walking around the school with it, especially not by the rest of the football team. He attempts to explain this to Kyungsoo, who understands. They decide that Kyungsoo will handle Vienna at school, and Chanyeol will handle her at home. Kyungsoo hasn’t told any of his friends that Chanyeol is his partner; they’re under the impression he’s doing it solo. Chanyeol has football practice for their spring game on Monday, though, but he decides to just hide it in his gym bag, stuff it in his locker, and pray it doesn’t make noise. Not exactly the best parental move, but drastic times call for drastic measures.

 

The rest of the day goes like any other Monday. When it comes time to execute Chanyeol’s “baby in the bag” plan, it miraculously works. He hides it in his locker under a bunch of dirty gym clothes, just in case it makes noise. 

 

Practice runs as regular. It’s not the regular season, so it’s not as intense, but it still leaves Chanyeol exhausted at the end. So exhausted that he completely forgets about Vienna in his locker. He’s so used to his regular routine of changing and going home that he makes it all the way to the parking lot before he remembers. He groans and turns around, heading back to the locker room.

 

As soon as he gets there, he sees Baekhyun and Yixing standing together in the corner. It takes Chanyeol a second to register what’s happening.

Their mouths are together. They’re kissing. Making out, actually. Baekhyun’s hands are cupping Yixing’s face, Yixing’s hands are on Baekhyun’s ass. 

They both freeze as soon as they realize someone else is there, and then quickly bring their hands back to themselves. Chanyeol is also frozen.

They all just stand there in silence for what seemed like minutes. You could hear a pin drop.

 

Chanyeol cuts the silence with a candid “What the fuck?”

Baekhyun says “uhhhh,” and looks to Yixing.

Yixing says nothing.

 

Just then, Vienna starts crying. Yixing turns his head around looking for the source of the noise. “What is that?”

Baekhyun locks eyes with Chanyeol and blurts out, “If you tell, I’ll tell.”

“Oh yours is TWICE as bad as mine, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol argues.

“Then I’ll tell the whole school you have a crush on Kyungsoo Do.”

“You  _ wouldn’t. _ ”

“I would.”   
“I don’t… have a CRUSH on him.”

Baekhyun snorts and rolls his eyes. “Sure. But that’s not the point.”

Yixing is completely lost.

Baekhyun puts his hands out. “Look, chill out, Chanyeol. I’m not trying to be an asshole. Everything will be fine as long as neither of us let any secrets out. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Baekhyun sticks out his pinkie. “Promise.”

Chanyeol sticks out his own, and they shake on it. “Promise.”

 

Chanyeol opens his locker and stuffs Vienna in his bag. “Okay, Baekhyun, I could have guessed. But Yixing?”

“It’s new to me too,” Yixing says. “I just never thought about it before I guess. Sometimes you don’t know until you try it.”

“Not every gay dude wears nail polish and loves Madonna,” Baekhyun says, “and stop asking us questions about this. It never happened, okay?”

“Sure, sure,” Chanyeol says on his way out the door.

 

When he gets to his car, he sits in silence behind the wheel for three solid minutes.

  
  


The next day at school, Chanyeol can’t stop staring at Baekhyun and Yixing during lunch, and Baekhyun kicks him under the table.

  
  
  


Chanyeol meets Kyungsoo at the library on Tuesday after school. They both try to get their work done, but keep getting distracted by each other. Chanyeol keeps making dumb jokes (like adding the words “in bed” to the end of book titles they see) that make Kyungsoo laugh, but they both try to stay quiet, which only makes them laugh harder. He teases Kyungsoo a few times by flicking his pencil at him, and learns that Kyungsoo hits a lot harder than he looks. A few times, Baekhyun’s  _ “you have a crush on Kyungsoo _ ” echoes in the back of his head, and he tries to ignore it. After they finally get their work done, they high-five.

 

“This project is pretty much done,” Kyungsoo says with relief.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol says, with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm.

“What’s wrong, was I really that insufferable?”

“No! The… opposite, actually. I’m just, I dunno, afraid that after this project is over we’ll never talk again. I mean… the school year is almost over and we only just got to know each other. Y’know?”

“Yeah. I mean… you can call me? If you want?”

“Okay, sure! I guess I’ll talk to you later?”

“Yeah! Later,” Kyungsoo waves, walking through the parking lot to his car.

 

At home, Chanyeol decides not to call Kyungsoo that night. He doesn’t wanna seem clingy.

  
  
  


Chanyeol wakes up sweating. His clock reads 4:57 AM. His underwear is a mess. The dream he just woke up from is still floating through his head: Kyungsoo’s hands, Kyungsoo’s lips,  _ Kyungsoo _ .

 

Fuck.

Chanyeol has a crush on Kyungsoo.

  
  
  


~~~

  
  
  


Kyungsoo should be happy. He and Chanyeol both got 100’s on the baby project, Chanyeol’s been calling him often, they do home ec homework together, they’ve become friends, Chanyeol even made him some mixtapes-- but part of it stings. It’s hard for Kyungsoo not to read into things, and he knows that the false hope is going to get him hurt. He decides to put an end to it himself and call Baekhyun, who he knows is Chanyeol’s best friend. The faster he can crush his own dreams, the faster he can move on.

 

When Baekhyun picks up, his voice is so loud that Kyungsoo has to move the phone away from his ear. “Yo, this is Baekhyun! Who’s this?”

“Um, It’s Kyungsoo Do.”   
“Oh, Chanyeol’s new buddy. I’ve heard so much about you,” Baekhyun says, and it makes Kyungsoo’s heart flutter, but he tries to remember what he came here for. “Whatcha need?”

“It’s… about Chanyeol. I don’t really know how else to ask this besides being frank, but. Do you know if he’s, like… uh… um. Gay?”

Baekhyun laughs. “Oh, sweetie, you’ll have to ask him that.”

“Wh- I can’t ask him, are you crazy? Are you sure you don’t know?”

“This is so priceless, honestly.”

“Sh-shut up! I knew I was just gonna get made fun of, I shouldn’t have even called-”

“No, no, I’m not making fun of you. Look, all I’m gonna say is, the other day, Chanyeol called and asked me how you can tell if someone is into guys or not.”

“What?”

“Damn, you two are so oblivious it’s hilarious. You guys are lucky I’m here to put this together.”

“Wait, what?”

“He LIKES you, Kyungsoo.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t breathe.

“But you didn’t hear it from me, okay?”

Click, Dial tone.

Kyungsoo hangs up the phone and collapses into his desk chair.

 

He doesn’t know how to handle it. He just went from wanting to break his own heart to it thumping out of his chest after the span of about five minutes. He takes a second to breathe and recover from the emotional whiplash. He doesn’t know what to do. What CAN he do? Ask Chanyeol out? He doesn’t want to ruin their friendship. Part of him is still scared of rejection. Maybe Baekhyun was wrong, maybe Chanyeol was asking about someone else. Chanyeol couldn’t even handle the school knowing that he and Kyungsoo were partners for the baby project, there’s no way Chanyeol would ever do something like date a boy, especially not someone like Kyungsoo. The football team would rip Chanyeol to shreds. But Chanyeol likes him. Maybe they could date in secret? That wouldn’t be that hard, would it? Kyungsoo stressed himself out thinking of possible outcomes. At the end of the day, he decides to do nothing. He needed time to think.

 

Of which he got none, since thirty minutes later, he gets a call from Chanyeol.

“Hey, Kyungsoo! What’s up?”

Kyungsoo gulps. “Not much.”

“I was just wondering, and you can totally say no, but, can you help me study for chem? There’s that test tomorrow and I’m just not getting it, but I need to do good on it so I can get a C before the end of the semester. I tried to call Yixing for help but he didn’t pick up.”

“Uh, sure, no problem. Tonight?”

“Yeah, the test is tomorrow. If you don’t want me over, that’s fine, I guess I could just… I don’t know-”

“No, no, come on over. I’ll tell my parents.”

“God, Soo, you’re a lifesaver. See you in fifteen.”

“See ya.”

Kyungsoo takes a deep breath and runs his fingers through his hair. He hopes Baekhyun didn’t tell Chanyeol about their call, but part of him hopes he did. It’d make things easier on his part.

 

Chanyeol gets there after twenty minutes. Kyungsoo made a small effort to clean up his room a little. It’s kind of plain, but Chanyeol says he likes it. They sit on Kyungsoo’s bed, and Kyungsoo starts going through the textbook. He tries his hardest to put everything in simple terms, and Chanyeol seems to be grasping it better. He even does some practice problems. The way Chanyeol looks at Kyungsoo as he talks makes him blush, and he hopes Chanyeol doesn’t notice.

 

“I think that’s about it. Anything else you’re still confused about?”

“Yeah. Just making sure: in electrolysis, the electrons go... from the cathode to the anode? Wait, no, anode to cathode?”

“Yeah, the negative electrons are attracted to the positive side. Just remember, it’s an opposites attract thing.”

“Okay, yeah,” Chanyeol says smiling.

“Any other questions?”

“Will you go to prom with me?”

Kyungsoo stares. “What?”

“I said, will you go to prom with me?” Chanyeol looks down at the pencil in his hand. “I mean, if you… want.”

Kyungsoo tries to be cautious. “As friends, or…”

“Whatever you want.”

“So like… not as just friends?”

“Do you want to go not as just friends?” Chanyeol looks at Kyungsoo expectantly, and Kyungsoo can see the sincerity in his eyes.

“Yes, Chanyeol, I’d love to go to prom with you.”

Chanyeol laughs, and flops back onto the bed. “God, Kyungsoo, you worried me for a minute there.”

“I’m sorry! I… I thought you were joking.”

“That’d be cruel. Do you really think I’d be that cruel?”

“No, that’s why I said yes. But, if you’re serious, what are you gonna do? You’re not worried about what your friends will think?”

“Of course I am. But honestly, fuck them. I don’t care. They may be mean, but what they say can’t hurt my feelings if I don’t let them. I know my real friends… my real friends like me no matter what. They don’t care about popularity politics and all that bullshit. Not when it comes to stuff like this. I really like you, Kyungsoo.”

“God, Chanyeol, I like you too. I’ve always liked you.”

They both chuckle a little. Kyungsoo feels like he’s floating. A fire is burning under his skin. 

“Well,” Chanyeol says as he gets up, “It’s pretty late. Thanks for tutoring me. And going to prom with me.”

“No problem,” Kyungsoo says walking Chanyeol to their front door, “Thanks for asking me.”

“See you at school tomorrow.”

In the doorway, Kyungsoo gets on his tip toes, reaches up for Chanyeol’s face, and plants a kiss on his lips. Chanyeol looks flustered, and it makes Kyungsoo’s heart soar.

Chanyeol’s beaming on his way to his car. They wave to each other as Chanyeol drives off.

When Kyungsoo gets back to his room, he flops down on his bed, and giggles into his pillow.

  
  
  


In the time between that Thursday and prom next Saturday, Kyungsoo feels five times lighter. He spends a lot of time just thinking about Chanyeol. His laugh, his ears, his long legs. He lets his heart run free without his own self-preserving restrictions.

  
  
  


~~~

  
  
  


A week before prom, Chanyeol tells his parents he isn’t straight. It went pretty smoothly, and he expected it to, because he knows his family and he knows they’d be accepting. He also had some encouragement from Kyungsoo, who’d told his parents years ago.

  
  


Three nights before prom, Kyungsoo comes over to Chanyeol’s for the first time. He seems fascinated by his dozens of bands posters and shelves of CD’s and cassettes. Chanyeol plays the guitar for Kyungsoo, and for the songs that Kyungsoo knows, he sings along. They stay up late playing together and, in an attempt to make less noise that might wake Chanyeol’s parents, they crawl out of his second story window and sit on the roof. Chanyeol plucks away at the strings as he gazes at Kyungsoo, who is staring up at the night sky. They kiss a second time.

  
  


The night of prom, Chanyeol is knocking on Kyungsoo’s door with a white boutonniere in his hand. Kyungsoo’s parents let him in, and coo about how dashing Chanyeol looks, as well as warn him about making responsible decisions. Chanyeol can hear Kyungsoo shout “Mom, Dad, leave him alone” from down the hall, and then he’s there in the living room.

 

He looks absolutely gorgeous. Chanyeol feels the wind gets knocked out of his lungs. He’s wearing contacts and his hair is back off of his forehead, he’s wearing a black suit with a grey shirt and a white tie, and he’s holding Chanyeol’s boutonniere. He always thought Kyungsoo was cute, but tonight, he’s  _ handsome _ . REALLY handsome.

“Wow, Kyungsoo… wow. You look…”  _ don’t say hot _ , Chanyeol thinks. “Incredible.”

Kyungsoo visibly blushes. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

Chanyeol pins on Kyungsoo’s boutonniere. “Thanks.”

Kyungsoo pins on Chanyeol’s boutonniere. “That custom suit must have been expensive, what with your legs and all.”

“You’re just jealous,” Chanyeol teases, getting on his tiptoes.

Kyungsoo punches him on the arm.

 

They say goodbye to Kyungsoo’s parents and drive to the school gym. 

  
  


As soon as they make it to the doors, Kyungsoo looks around and starts to panic.

 

“We can’t do this Chanyeol. What if they kick us out?”

“Just say we’re friends. Don’t worry about it. Just let loose and have fun, okay?”

Kyungsoo nods, but his eyebrows are still furrowed.

 

Once inside, they meet up with Baekhyun, Yixing, and Minseok. Baekhyun seems extremely happy to see them together, and pulls them out to the dance floor. Chanyeol cuts loose immediately, since it comes easy to him, but Kyungsoo remains reserved. After a few songs, though, Chanyeol sees Kyungsoo like he’s never seen him before. He’s really feeling the music and visibly having a good time. He’s smiling, sometimes so big that he’s almost closing his eyes. Baekhyun scream-sings along with every song, and Yixing is somehow an incredible dancer. Three hours go by in what seems like seconds.

 

As they take a break by the punch bowl, the DJ shifts to slower songs. The five of them linger by the refreshments all throwing glances at one another as the couples on the floor start to dance together. Kyungsoo starts to look visibly nervous. Chanyeol leans over to talk in his ear.

 

“Do you want to dance with me, Kyungsoo?”

Kyungsoo doesn’t take his eyes off the dance floor. “Of course I want to. We can’t.”

“Maybe no one will notice.”

“I can’t, Chanyeol.”

“Please, Kyungsoo. I don’t care.”

“Well I do,” Kyungsoo says, and suddenly he breaks away from the group and heads towards the doors. Chanyeol follows him out. Baekhyun, Yixing, and Minseok all shoot concerned glances at one another, and follow Chanyeol.

 

Kyungsoo is sitting against the wall in the parking lot. His eyes are starting to water, but he isn’t crying yet.

“Kyungsoo, I’m sorry,” Chanyeol says, apologizing more about the situation than anything in specific. He feels hopeless. This sucks.

“Kyungsoo, is everything okay?” asks Yixing sweetly.

“I think I want to go home,” Kyungsoo says quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“We can leave the prom and just hang out by ourselves,” Baekhyun proposes. “Just drive up to Northridge and sit on our cars and throw rocks down the cliff.”

“I’ve got a six pack of Coors Light,” Minseok says, “But you don’t have to have any if you don’t want to.”

Kyungsoo dabs his eyes with the back of his suit sleeve. “That… that sounds fine. I’m sorry we’re leaving early because of me.”

Baekhyun reassures him instantly, “Please, don’t worry about us, we were going to leave early anyway.”

Chanyeol helps Kyungsoo stand back up, and puts his hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. I just… I’m fine.”

Chanyeol hopes to God he isn’t lying.

“Well,” Baekhyun announces, “to Northridge!”

  
  


“Your friends are kind,” Kyungsoo notes out loud once he’s in the car with Chanyeol.

“Yeah. I mean, the rest of the team, they’re jerks. But those three… they’re good kids.”

“Do they… know. About us, I mean.”

“I’m not gonna lie to you: They know. But only because I talk about you all the time. Remember, Baekhyun was kind of the one that set us up.”

Kyungsoo laughs.

  
  


At the cliff, the five of them sit in the back of Chanyeol’s truck as he plays the radio out of his speakers. They’ve all taken off their suits jackets and ties. Everyone has one beer, except for Baekhyun, who has two. The mood is warm, everyone is laughing loudly and talking together honestly.

 

They talk about college plans. All five of them are going to the local University, which is a good school. Baekhyun is majoring in theatre, Yixing is majoring in nursing, and Minseok is majoring in business. Kyungsoo got a full-ride scholarship and is majoring in engineering. Chanyeol doesn’t know what he wants to do.

 

“I mean, I’m a senior, I’m going to school next year. And I still don’t know what I should do. I just want to do something I love, I don’t care if it makes money or not. But what can I do? I can’t become a professional football player, there’s no way.”

“You should major in music,” Kyungsoo suggests. Everyone collectively nods in agreement.

“That’s… Kyungsoo, that’s a great idea. But what could I do with that?”

“You could become a music teacher or something,” Yixing says.

Chanyeol thinks about it, and immediately falls in love with the idea. “Yeah! Yeah…. Yeah I could. I could.”

 

Heaven by Bryan Adams comes on the radio, and a tipsy Baekhyun stands up, grabs Yixing by the hand, and pulls him out of the truck. He puts his arms around Yixing’s neck, and Yixing, giggling, puts his arms around Baekhyun’s waist. As they start to totter around slowly, Kyungsoo whips around to look at Chanyeol, who smiles and nods. Minseok cheers, and then elbows Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo hesitates, and then gets up, putting his hand out in front of Chanyeol. Chanyeol takes it. 

 

They hop down out of the truck and start to dance. Kyungsoo puts his arms around Chanyeol’s waist, even though he’s shorter. They lean into each other. Kyungsoo smells good. They step around, swaying back and forth. Kyungsoo sighs into Chanyeol’s chest.

 

When the song is over, they break apart, and Minseok claps. They turn around to see that Baekhyun and Yixing are kissing, and Minseok hoots and hollers. 

He laughs, and then sighs. “I think I’m gonna call it a night, you guys. It’s almost one, and I told my folks I’d be home before then.”

“Me and Yixing are probably gonna leave soon too,” Baekhyun says as Yixing’s lightweight touchy-drunk self kisses the back of Baekhyun’s neck softly.

“You two have fun, and stay safe,” Minseok teases, and Baekhyun flicks him off. “I meant driving home, asshole.”

Chanyeol turns to Kyungsoo. “Do you wanna stay here? What time do you have to be home?”

“I don’t have a curfew, I just have to make it back alive. We can stay.”

 

The other three wave goodbye out their car windows as they leave Chanyeol and Kyungsoo alone in the back of Chanyeol’s truck. Chanyeol has turned down the radio, so it’s just barely audible. With the other two headlights gone, the only light is coming from inside the truck.

 

Kyungsoo’s hand finds Chanyeols. Kyungsoo squeezes, and Chanyeol squeezes back.

“Thanks. For tonight. And also I guess for everything,” Kyungsoo says.

“I’m glad you had fun.”

Kyungsoo rests his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder, and starts to run his thumb along the knuckle of Chanyeol’s. The tenderness of it makes Chanyeol melt. He turns and meets Kyungsoo’s lips with his.

 

God, he loves kissing Kyungsoo. His lips are perfect, and he’s so gentle but firm at the same time. Chanyeol kisses back hard. Maybe it’s the alcohol in him, but all he wants is to kiss Kyungsoo, to feel Kyungsoo. They make out for what feels like forever, and it’s warm and wet and it feels  _ so _ good. Chanyeol’s heart beats so loud it echoes between his ears.

 

Kyungsoo breaks apart, like he’s going to say something, but he doesn’t.

“Is everything okay?” Chanyeol asks.

“Do you… are we… do you want to. Uh. Y’know. What… what kids do on prom night?”

Oh.

“Um. How? Like. What…”

“I mean, we don’t have to. Maybe we shouldn’t.”

“It’s not like I don’t WANT to, I just-”

“No, sorry, I shouldn’t have asked-”

“It’s just like, I don’t really know what-”

“Yeah, no, it’s fine, sorry.”

 

Kyungsoo scratches the back of his head, and Chanyeol looks around. The mood is extremely awkward.

Chanyeol stutters out an unsure “So, c-can we, like, still, make out?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“And, let me get this clear, we… AREN’T fooling around?”

“I mean. Not if you don’t want to.”

“Well,” Chanyeol gulps, “I want to.”

Kyungsoo turns to look him dead in the eyes. “Really?”

“Please, God, yes,” Chanyeol says, voice sounding  _ way _ more desperate than he hoped.

 

Kyungsoo, with way more force than Chanyeol expected, pulls Chanyeol up from beside him and places him on his lap. “Tell me what you want me to do.” 

Chanyeol’s head is reeling. “We don’t have to have sex, just… do whatever feels good. I’ve never… done anything with a guy before, so I don’t really know…”

“Take off your shirt.”

Chanyeol’s fingers tremble as he unbuttons. Kyungsoo taking control makes Chanyeol’s breathing shallow.

Kyungsoo removes his own, and Chanyeol is surprised at how  _ thick _ Kyungsoo’s body really is.

“You’re beautiful, Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo says as he runs his hands down Chanyeol’s sides, making him shiver.

Their lips connect again, and Chanyeol moans into the kiss. Kyungsoo’s grip around Chanyeol’s middle tightens. Chanyeol can feel Kyungsoo’s hardness against his own and instinctively bucks his hips into Kyungsoo’s lap. Kyungsoo takes a sharp breath and grabs Chanyeol’s hips. He moves his mouth along Chanyeol’s jaw to his neck and begins to kiss and suck down the soft skin to the collarbone, Chanyeol making soft little noises on top of him.

Kyungsoo grabs handfuls of Chanyeol’s ass and he grinds into Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo groans, and it makes Chanyeol lightheaded. Kyungsoo’s hands move around to Chanyeol’s fly and Kyungsoo zips it down, shuffling his pants down his hips, and then does the same to his own. He notices that Kyungsoo’s wearing tighty-whiteys, and he would have made a joke about his name being on the back of them if he wasn’t so horny that he couldn’t think about anything besides how badly he wanted to be touched.

Chanyeol continues grinding again, and Kyungsoo mutters a “Yeah, baby, just like that” that makes Chanyeol’s dick twitch in his boxers.

Kyungsoo must have felt it against his own, because he teases farther, asking “You like that? When I call you baby?”

Chanyeol only whimpers, burying his head into Kyungsoo’s neck, his grip tightening on Kyungsoo’s shoulders.

 

Kyungsoo kisses Chanyeol with a lot of tongue,  _ so _ much tongue. They really feel like teenagers, just rutting up against each other, doing whatever feels good. Everything is sloppy and clumsy and they’re both desperate to get off.

 

Kyungsoo’s mouth leaves Chanyeol’s. “You want me to touch you?”

“ _ Please _ ”

Kyungsoo reaches his hand down, under Chanyeol’s waistband, and wraps his fingers around his cock. 

Chanyeol falls apart as Kyungsoo works his hand on him, his other hand on the back of Chanyeol’s neck. Kyungsoo jerks Chanyeol off the same way he kisses; gentle and firm at the same time, meticulous, silent.

 

After a while, Kyungsoo takes his other hand off of Chanyeol’s neck to free his own erection. He then spits in his hand, and wraps his palm around both of their cocks. Chanyeol is harder than he’s ever been in his entire life.

 

Chanyeol is melting into Kyungsoo, gripping onto his shoulders, breathing heavy into his neck. Kyungsoo mumbles pet names and praises and curses under his breath. 

 

Chanyeol takes his hands off of Kyungsoo’s shoulders. He takes one to wrap around Kyungsoo’s and their dicks between them, the size of his hand much larger than Kyungsoo’s. With the other, he meets Kyungsoo’s other hand, and they link their fingers together. Kyungsoo’s pace quickens and his grip tightens. Everything feels so good that it’s almost overwhelming.

 

Chanyeol can tell he’s not going to last much longer, and he tries to convey so, but all he can manage to get out is Kyungsoo’s name over and over.

And then he cums, in Kyungsoo’s hand, on Kyungsoo’s chest. He rides his orgasm out, but Kyungsoo’s hand keeps going, and Chanyeol’s almost writhing with overstimulation. 

Kyungsoo lets go and continues to jerk himself off, his other hand still linked with Chanyeol’s. He looks up to make eye contact and it sends a shiver down Chanyeol’s spine. Both of them look beyond fucked out; their faces red, lips swollen, pupils blown, hair a mess. Kyungsoo groans and, still making eye contact, finishes on Chanyeol’s chest.

 

They both just sit there for a few minutes, catching their breath, revelling in the afterglow. Chanyeol untangles his fingers from Kyungsoo’s.

 

“Fuck,” Kyungsoo sighs.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol says as he climbs off of Kyungsoo’s lap to sit beside him.

 

Then Kyungsoo laughs. “I’m so fucking tired.”

“Me too, I’m exhausted. But we should probably… clean up.”

Kyungsoo looks at the both of them. It’s a mess. “Shit.”

“It’s fine, we’ll just… use my tie. It’s old anyway. I’ll tell my mom I lost it.”

“Will she believe you?”

“Well what else am gonna say? ‘Sorry, mom, me and Kyungsoo had to clean up all the cum off ourselves, if you want it back you could walk around Northridge for a while and you might find it?’”

Kyungsoo laughs, putting his face in his hands. “I can’t believe we did this. I can’t believe  _ I  _ did this with  _ you _ .”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re Chanyeol Park, and I’m Kyungsoo Do. You’re out of my league, don’t you know that? How many times do I have to tell you I’ve had a crush on you since freshman year?”

“Well, I guess dreams really do come true.”

Kyungsoo raises his arm to hit Chanyeol but changes his mind mid-air. Instead, he leans in for a kiss.

  
  


They sit next to each other in the back of the truck, holding hands, looking down at the pattern of streetlights below the cliff as music plays softly from behind them.

This isn’t exactly how Chanyeol expected the end of his senior year, but he wouldn’t be nearly as happy any other way.

 

“I think I love you, Kyungsoo.”

“I think I love you too, Chanyeol.”

  
  
~~~


End file.
